Telescoping measuring rule



Jan. 22, 1952 J. J. BOISEN TELESCOPING MEASURING RULE Filed July 13,1950 INVENITOR.

Patented Jan. 22, 1952 TELESCOPING MEASURING nuns John J. Boisen,Luverne, Minn.

Application July 13, 1950, Serial No. 173,569

2 Claims. (01. 33-161) This invention relates to a new and usefulimprovement in a telescoping measuring rule.

An object of the invention is to provide a telescoping rule which, whenextended, will be of any desired length and which can be collapsed intoa compact size, taking very little space, for convenience in storage ortransportation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a telescoping rule, thesections of the rule being triangular in cross-section, structure forkeeping the rule from coming apart including closed slots extendingsubstantially the full length of one corner of all but the outer-mostsection and a pin for each inner section, each pin extending Fig. 1 is aperspective view of my improved rule in collapsed form.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my improved rule in extended form.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 or on line 3--3 of Fig.4, pin l being shown in elevation.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, pins I0. I l and I2being shown in elevation.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 4, pins H and [2 beingshown in elevation.

Referring to the drawing, l designates my rule generally. This rule ismade up of telescoping sections 2, 3, 4 and 5. The drawing shows foursections although it is clear that more or less sections could be usedas desired. These sections are made of metal, plastic, or other suitablematerial and may be of any desired size. As shown, the sections aretriangular in cross-section, which is the preferred shape. Otherpolygonal sections could be used, such as square. In fact, the sectionscould be curved, such as elliptical or circular. The outer end ofsection 5 is closed by an end plate 6, which end plate is secured tosection 5 in any suitable way. Likewise, the outer end of section 2 isclosed by an end plate, not shown. Each section is provided with a scaleon one or more sides. The scales on the difierent sections are socalibrated that the scale on each section supplements the scales on theother sections when the rule is fully extended.

Suitable structure is provided to keep the sections from coming apart.This structure includes slots 1, 8 and 9. Each slot extends along onecorner of section 3, 4 or 5. That is, there is a slot in each section,except the outer-most section. A pin I0 extends through an aperture nearone end of section 2 and through slot 1 in section 3. The ends of pinII] are enlarged to keep pin Ill in place. Pin H extends through slot 1and slot 8. Pin l2 extends through slot 8 and slot 9. Slots 1, 8 and 9are closed at both ends, that is, these slots do not extend to the endsof the sections. The space between the ends of the slots and the ends ofthe sections are such as to limit the distance that the sections can bepulled apart and such as to prevent an inner section from being pushedtoo far into the next outer section. As clearly shown in Figs. 3, 4 and5, the corners that have the slots are cut away or flattened to providea space to accommodate the enlarged ends of pins H], II and I2. As

shown, the slots are at corresponding corners of the sections. Theseslots could be located at different corners or even at the sides, ifdesired. The sections would have a relatively close fit, so that therule will remain in extended position while the rule is used in theusual way.

In practice, I have found that the form of my invention, illustrated inthe drawing andreferred to in-the above description, is the mosteflicient and practical. Various minor changes in details ofconstruction, proportions and arrangement of the several parts may beresorted to without departing from the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A measuring rule including a plurality of hollow sections, each beingof a similar polygonal cross-section and provided with a scale on itsexternal surface, said cross-sections being of progressively reducedsize so that each section can telescope with frictional engagement uponany one adjacent it, each section except the one of largestcross-section having one of its corners cut away to form a flattenedsurface having a closed slot extending substantially the length of thesection, each section except that of smallest cross-section having adouble headed pin fixed in an aperture near that end of its sectionwhich in the expanded condition of the rule is adjacent the succeedingsection of reduced cross-section, said pin entering the slot and theunder surface of its head slidingly engaging the surface of thissucceeding section, said pin limiting the exten sion of the saidsection.

2. A structure as covered by claim 1 in which each end section has itsfree end closed by a plate malde substantially integral with the wallsof said section.

1 JOHN J. BOISEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Massa Jan. 4, 1898 Number Name Date Taylor May 1,1900 Parr Dec. 1, 1914 Simon Apr. 8, 1919 Eckman Apr. 1, 1924 Doty June5, 1923 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date England June 18, 1903 Austria Aug.25, 1915 Germany Mar. 19, 1893

